djpretzel Posted May 26, 2005 Share Posted May 26, 2005 > Remixer names: ambient & MaJIN_SaN > Game Remixed: Chrono Cross > Track Remixed: Overworld > Remix Title: Timelords > This is collaboration that we were going to submit for a long time, but didn't have a chance to put the necessary final touches on the mix until now. It's a unique take on the CC - Overworld theme. Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted May 26, 2005 Share Posted May 26, 2005 http://www.tzone.org/~llin/psf/packs2/Chrono_Cross_psf.rar - 104 "Time's Grasslands - Home World" The opening synth was a bit shrill, but was an acquired taste. Some weak drums entered in at :19 while the stuttering sound supporting the lead synth took over. Very boring transition section from :20-:42. You gotta cut the fat out of this mix and scrap that kind of stuff. At :43 the melody kicked in. The bassline was alright, but the beatwork here was a bit spartan. The beatwork changed at 1:01 into some snares, but they were too simplistic to drive the mix along. There were some good phasing/buzzing sounds in there though to fill up the space a bit more. There was that grating synth on support at 1:22. The instrumentation was still pretty sparse and weak, though I'm glad some effects were present throughout the mix in the attempt the thicken up the atmosphere. Not enough mind you, but certainly a step in the right direction. The chorus arrived at 1:40 and more of these beats and snare shots surrounded the music but didn't gel with it, preventing them from adding anything meaningful to the arrangement composition itself. The really flat transition at 2:21 detrimentally dropped the energy level. Guess it went into a minor key. Change that into something new, please. Nah. Definitely a NO-go. The sounds were thin, and the beatwork here had no texture or power. The arrangement of the actual melody was pretty simplified and conservative. The ending section at 3:28 was a weak way to abruptly end the piece (mostly the fault of that awful synth at 3:40). There weren't many instruments or sounds in play at any given time, leaving the soundfield pretty empty most of the way through. The sound combinations here took some getting used to, but after a few listens the supporting elements in particular sounded a lot more structured and less haphazard, so don't listen to this only once and get thrown off. Truly, it takes a special mix to sound thin but still feel cluttered. Reminds me of the Robo theme mix ambient made a while back that had similar problems. If Majin'll be pissed, he'll just look back on this one way later and wonder why he thought this would genuinely make it as is. You're cool with me of course, Majin, but after getting shit from you about the site recently posting several "shitty" mixes (Shael/Mythril/Fat Man/OverCoat/DCT), I'm surprised you and ambient subbed something that's clearly lacking in a lot of areas and doesn't even compare to the material you yourself criticized. That attitude contrasted with this submission is laughable. All talk if you guys can't bring your A-game. For Majin especially, whom I've heard some excellently made music from and played on my show, I'm kinda surprised considering what he's capable of. Y'all both keep working on your material, though I'd call this a done deal and move onto something else. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harmony Posted June 4, 2005 Share Posted June 4, 2005 Some of the FX and processing are really cool. The vocoder sounding FX at 0:32 are really trippy, as are the breakdown at 2:50 and the outro. The section from 1:40 is slick indeed with its ambient beat-driven groove. There’s a decent variety of lead synths whose textures all seem to work nicely with the supporting elements. The bass isn’t too smooth though and I’d either swap the sample for something creamier or tone the bass track down. Sadly, not much locks together to give the mix a cohesive feel at any given point. The percussion sequencing is good but is very sparse and the drums are in need of some interesting effects processing to thicken them up. I’m all for crazy amounts of compression, distortion or some unique use of reverb on drums and you guys might consider something along those lines in the future. I’m wondering why the bass dropped out at 1:02 as it was somewhat holding things together. Sections like 1:02-1:20 and 2:19-2:49 aren’t strong enough to stand alone with the few elements that are present at those times. I also wasn’t feeling the harmonies created with the lead during 1:02-1:40. The supporting and main theme just didn’t mesh well. An enjoyable track and an interesting spin on the original but a whole heap of compositional concerns keeps this from being as cool as it could be. Keep working at it. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkeSword Posted June 5, 2005 Share Posted June 5, 2005 Guess it went into a minor key. Whole song's in a minor key bro. This mix feels a lot longer than it is. Harmony used the right word; cohesion. This mix lacks that quality. I like some of the processing, but it really seems to be a lot of the same lines and arpeggios over and over again. There are also the dead spots that Harmony mentioned. Too little material for this mix. Cool beats, but ultimately, a repetitive composition. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vig Posted June 5, 2005 Share Posted June 5, 2005 ack...when the melody comes in there's a bad note in the harmony. others have already mentioned it. the beat makes this song sound cluttered, but there's a definite lack of texture. the rhythm instruments add clutter without cohesive harmony. the song is spastic without direction. generally sloppy arrangement. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts